It was a cold, dark night, and...actually - it was. The evening's excitement began at the Raw Bar next to the Metro where Postal Blowfish and A Girl Named Captain members, gathered to eat, drink, be merry, and ponder the fabulousness of Guided by Voices (thanks GARY for organizing!). It was really nice to catch up with many people that were up to this point, only names on my computer screen. What great people. It's good to be able to hang with people that share the passion I have for GBV, and not be called a groupie or a freak. I traveled from Dallas, Texas and others came from Alabama, Michigan, Canada, New York, Houston, Austin, North Carolina, Missouri, Indiana, and SO many other places. I wondered if there was anyone from Chicago at the show. PB and AGNC is my new home away from home, and I LOVE YOU ALL. The Girls Named Captain are so wonderful! I can't wait to get to know you all better in VEGAS! Special thanks to Ana for all of her hard work.

Ok, the show. Keep in mind as the evening progresses details will be left out (thanks alcohol!). Many people pondered what would be the show opener and I believe the most popular guess was Salty Salute. Turned out to be Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox, a song that everyone had been waiting to hear live for many, many years apparently. I called fellow PB-er and non-attender, Robert Gray from my cell at his request. Unfortunately, my proximity to the speaker probably made it difficult to make out, sorry Rob. I also called Stuart for Game of Pricks, but I'm not sure if he got it. What followed OTN/MGF was a show of epic proportions, which included the entry into a new year, all the GBV "hits" you can think of, spilled beer, thrown beer, dropped beer, drunk beer, former band members, Beatle Bob, an onstage bar manned by Trader Vic where Bob and others would break and have a shot (he even refilled my beer!), Doug in a top hat, buckets on stage designated for Puke and Piss, and so much more. I think my favorite song of the night was Postal Blowfish. Show closer: Don't Stop Now. There was some debate about what this would be also, but Roger called it before the show - I was skeptical. There was not a doubt in his mind that this would be the show closer. Way to go Rog!

The best news: the weather was AWESOME! 56 high, 28 low on New Year's Eve in Chicago is perfectly pleasant. Wuh-oh it's (GBV) magic.

Now some other fun, yet fuzzy random memories:
*Tattoo talk - pretty much everyone I talked to said they were in for a GBV tatt after the show. Unfortunately, the lateness and drunkenness interfered with that plan.
*Phil rolling his eyes at the beginning of Glad Girls, a song he says, he would be ok with never hearing live again.
*The guy in the What Would Jesus Bomb t-shirt. Sorry I don't remember your name! But the conversation was great.
*The guy in the Listen to Bob Pollard t-shirt. Sorry I don't remember your name either, but you have the friend who said he would make my Getting Old Ain't for Pussies girly tee. Totally crass, huh? Anyway, if you are reading this can you remind him to email me??
* Hangin with G.Lynn, the man that made my attendance at the show possible thanks to his crass letter to PBSOs, Jess, Gary, Phil, Roger, the Ryan Adams guy (can someone explain this nickname to me sometime?), Angela, Julie, and many others during the show.
*The extreme foot pain I felt into the 3rd hour of the show.
*Meeting fellow AGNC Cat in the bathroom after I recognized the dress she told us she was wearing.
*After the show, threatening to sue the bouncer for discrimination because he wasn't letting anyone into the upstairs VIP party area to use the (only) ladies restroom. The discrimination part came in because the men's restroom was open downstairs. On an even more interesting note, another girl that was arguing with the bouncer turned out to be an old college friend, Colleen, who I had been disappointed I didn't get to see. We didn't recognize each other at the time, but thanks to the magic of the night- it turned out we DID see each other. Maybe next time Colleen! The bouncer let us in, but we didn't crash the party.

Thanks for the memories, GBV, AGNC, PB, and the biggest thanks of all has to go to BOB POLLARD, The Man. I'll never forget these last few months. Last night I put in a GBV cd and when the first song, Gold Star for Robot Boy, started I had to stop it. It was too sad. I hope that sadness fades soon.

Love,
Sylvia